In Texas Hold'em, as well as in other poker games, selected players are required to place bets before the cards are dealt. These bets are referred to as “blinds,” because the players making these bets cannot see their cards before placing the bets (i.e., they are betting in the blind). Typically, two players are required to make blind bets. The players that are required to make the blind bets are typically the two players to the immediate left of the player in the dealer's position. The person to the left of the dealer's position typically makes a small blind, and the person to the left of the small blind position makes a big blind. The big blind is typically twice as large as the small blind.
The magnitude of the blinds can be scheduled to go up according to a set time schedule. For example, during the first 20 minute round, the small blind may be set at $25 and the big blind may be set at $50. During the second 20 minute round, the small blind may go up to $100 while the big blind goes up to $200, and so on. Virtually any schedule can be used, with the duration of the intervals and/or the amount of the blinds being selected as desired.
This betting structure relies on keeping track of which player is in the dealer's position, whether or not the person in that position actually deals the cards. In some games, a single person may deal the cards every hand, although the dealer's position moves one player to the left every hand. In other games, the person who actually deals the cards may change every hand. A dealer's button, herein referred to simply as a button, can be used to keep track of the dealer's position. A button is a marker used to indicate the player who is in the dealer's position. Virtually any marker can be used as a button.
The inventor herein has recognized that current buttons are not adequate for managing many aspects of a multiplayer game. For example, while virtually any marker can be used to keep track of a dealer's position, many game players find specifically sized and shaped buttons to be more useful than others. Furthermore, although the blind betting structures to which the dealer's position corresponds often rely on keeping accurate track of time, current buttons do not include any mechanism for keeping track of time. In addition, other aspects of game play are not addressed by current buttons. For example, during some games, it is desirable to selectively regulate the time a player is given to make a decision. As such, a secondary timer, independent of a primary timer, may be useful. Current buttons do not include primary timers for keeping track of when blind bet amounts are to be raised, let alone secondary timers that can be used to regulate the time a player is given to make a decision.
It is not a satisfactory solution to use timing devices that are not specifically designed to operate as a multiplayer gaming button. A discerning game player often will not tolerate distractions from the game at hand. The inventor herein has recognized that known timing devices suffer from one or more deficiencies, which can cause distractions that interrupt or otherwise make a game less enjoyable. Such deficiencies include, but are not limited to, difficult to set, difficult to repeat a previously completed interval, difficult to pause, no warning provided prior to the end of a time interval, relies only on audible alarm to indicate end of time interval, settings too easy to change accidentally, difficult for others to detect if changes are made to any settings, not capable of easily starting a secondary timer, no warning provided prior to the end of a secondary time interval, sized too big, sized too small, sized inconsistent with game aesthetic, shaped inconsistent with game aesthetic, sized and shaped confusingly similar to other game pieces (e.g., poker chips), and not sized and shaped to be packaged in a container that is already well established in the game.
At least some of these issues can be addressed by a multiplayer gaming button that includes a timer for keeping track of a betting schedule or other game related time information. To facilitate pleasurable game play, the timekeeping button can include inputs for easily setting a game specific time interval that is to be tracked, and for starting, stopping, and/or resetting the timer. In some embodiments, the button can include an alarm mechanism for indicating when a game specific time interval has elapsed. Such an alarm mechanism can include audio and/or visual indicators. The alarm mechanism can optionally be configured to provide warnings at set times before the game specific time interval has elapsed. In some embodiments, the alarm mechanism can indicate whenever selected settings are changed so that it is easy to detect accidental changes and/or changes by unscrupulous game players. In addition to keeping track of a primary time interval, the timekeeping button can optionally be configured to keep track of an secondary time interval independent of the primary time interval.